City seeks vendor to oversee parking operations

Jimmy DeButts, jdebutts@capgaznews.com

Dave Carney scoffs at the suggestion that more parking spots are the answer.

The owner of the Wine Bin in Ellicott City says the secret to solving his town's parking problem is simply knowing where to look. For Carney, that means using a smartphone app that identifies available free and pay spaces curbside or in Ellicott City lots.

He said his business has benefited from visitors being able to locate parking with the aid of the app. Carney said Annapolis, another historic town with a history of parking problems, could see similar benefits.

California-based Streetline Inc. launched its app-based service in Ellicott City in 2012. Similar technology could be coming to Annapolis. City officials are searching for a company to oversee a number of parking-related functions — including operating garages, parking enforcement and analyzing the use of parking — they admit Annapolis has not managed well.

Integrated technology, they say, could be the remedy for parking headaches that have plagued the city for years.

"An app could direct users to open spaces in garages," said Alderman Ross Arnett, D-Ward 8. "It's a more efficient and less stressful way to get people to spaces. It's the emphasis on parking management rather than building a lot of parking spaces. Given the configuration of the city, there's no way we can get all the spaces where businesses want them."

Annapolis issued a request for statements of qualification last week. Interested applicants have until March 11 to file statements. A pre-proposal conference is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. Thursday in the City Council chambers.

The second phase includes developing a short list of approved applicants before issuing a request for proposals to handle shuttle services, parking citations and permit issuance and management.

Startup costs for Ellicott City's system were $150,000, according to a 2012 Baltimore Sun story. Annual maintenance and repairs were set at $170,000. But the real-time technology also presents opportunities for more revenue through more efficient ticketing procedures.

Carney said prior to the adoption of Streetline's technology, some Ellicott City merchants were pushing to add parking spaces. Streetline uses in-ground sensors that transmit data to the cloud to determine whether parking spaces are available, how long vehicles have occupied a specific space and if their paid time has expired.

Using that data, Carney said, city merchants were shown that only 60 percent of spaces had been used during a special event, despite complaints there was no parking available.

Annapolis Mayor Mike Pantelides said he wants to learn what vendors can offer before deciding what services best fit the city's needs.

A request for proposals is needed, Pantelides said, because "we don't have a model. We haven't been doing this particularly well."

He said the city won't be selling garages but wants all parking operations under one umbrella. Currently, the transportation and finance departments oversee different services.

The mayor said it's possible outsourcing parking operations could lead to the addition or elimination of city workers. But it's too early to speculate, he said.

Alderman Joe Budge, D-Ward 1, said the city has a parking management problem and intends to retain a professional parking management firm that will do more than operate the garages. Budge envisions an entity handling every component of the city's parking responsibilities, including issuing and collecting fines.

Additional signs, payments via smartphone and sensor-based technology could all help make the city's parking operations more efficient, he said.

"Historically, this has been a part-time job for somebody to keep an eye on. We need somebody at the table to bring us into this century."

Ultimately, Budge said, the city's goal is to simplify parking so residents, tourists and employees can easily find available spaces.

"We constantly hear that people don't want to come to downtown Annapolis because it's impossible to find a place to park," he said. "You can't correct that impression without doing some hard work."

While technology is an important tool, said Annapolis Business Association President Sean O'Neill, the city needs a comprehensive approach to solve its parking problems.

O'Neill said that includes looking at places, such as residential areas, where people park for free.

He applauds the city for attempting to consolidate all aspects of parking under one entity.

"It's really hard to divide those pieces out to different factions of the city, especially if they don't talk to each other," he said.

A comprehensive plan should include easy-to-follow instructions for visitors, O'Neill said. He pointed to a system in Portland, Oregon, that informs drivers about parking prices, what garages are open and where spaces are available.

App-based systems also make it easier to ticket cars whose paid time has expired. Pantelides said increased revenue from ticketing could be possible with more efficient use of resources. That happened with the outsourcing of management of city garages to Towne Park Ltd., he said.

Budge said additional revenue wouldn't be the main goal of outsourcing the city's parking operations.

Pantelides has raised the idea of demand-based pricing for parking — an option with the technology Streetline employs.

For instance, Budge said, parking at Hillman Garage might be made more expensive than at the Park Place garage, to encourage greater use of the West Street facility, which is farther from downtown.

Metered parking rates could also be based on increased demand — for instance, when a special event is being held downtown.

"We need someone to manage all those things," Budge said, "to make it an effective system."